Why We Are Doing This?

We are Beekeepers with a vision of bringing bees back to the city and the suburbs of Melbourne. Our aim is to raise awareness of bees and the vital role that they play in our ecosystems and to be part a global effort to help save the honey bee from the various threats of disease and human habitation.

With the collapse of honey bees in 2007 (Colony Collapse Disorder) around the world, the Asian Bee threat and the Varroa Mite on our doorstep, a serious risk is taking place on our natural food supply. The honey bee plays a very important role in the sustainability of the food supply chain as they are the key to the pollination of the agricultural and horticultural crops which ultimately produces a very large proportion of the food that we all eat. One in three mouthfuls!

Due to the large number of wild European honey bees in Australia, the vital role of pollination is not widely recognised or valued. The potentially devastating impact of exotic pests such as the Varroa mite, which is yet to reach Australia, poses a significant threat to honey bees and pollination.

Our services have already help ‘re-home’ 80 swarms of honeybee colonies from swarms caught by ourselves and from unwanted colonies saved from extermination during the Spring and Summer. If it wasn’t for this, these colonies of honeybees may not have survived.

Looking to the future, as we expand on concepts of growing food in our cities & making them cooler, greener & more sustainable - It is vital to protect honey bees and include them in our cities and sprawling urban landscapes.

The main reason for the success of urban bees is the variety of flora growing in the city compared with to what is now present in much of the countryside which often has just one crop dominating an entire area. When that has finished blossoming, there is no more nectar for the local bees. In Paris, after analyzing the honey it was discovered that it contained more than 250 different pollens. In the countryside there can be as few as only 15 or 20 different pollens.

We place our hives utilising unused roofs, balconies & gardens. Melbourne now joins the likes of Paris, London, Toronto, San Francisco New York, Hong Kong and many others where urban beekeeping is thriving. The community benefits by some true ‘local’ produce – a delicious tasting honey which is unique to each site, with less actual food miles plus help green our City of Melbourne.